Staple making machine



O'cL. 1967 H. w. WALTER 3,349,556

STAPLE MAKING MACHINE Filed Oct 15, 19 64 United States Patent 3,349,556STAPLE MAKING MACHINE Henry W. Walter, 509 Old Toll Road, Asheville,N.C. 28804 Filed (Pet. 15, 1964, Ser. No. 404,135

11 Claims. (CI. 59-71) V ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine for makingsharply pointed staples in which the staple material is shaped in a die'by means of a punch, and, after all movement of the punch has stopped,squareended cutters, mounted on racks, move at an angle towards thesides of the punch and against the legs of the formed staple to shearthe staple material smoothly so as to form sharp points on the finishedstaple.

This invention relates to machines for making staples and particularlyto machines for making very small staples for surgical use.

One of the objects of the invention'is to provide a machine for makingstaples with very sharply pointed ends.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine for makingstaples in which, by means of a simple adjustment, staples of diflierentlengths may be produced.

Other objects and objects relating to the construction and assembly ofthe various parts of the machine will be apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

The objects of the invention are attained by providing a die having acavity whose width is equal to the overall width of the completedstaple, a punch arranged to force a section of staple material into thedie for shaping the staple, and a pair of cutting members arranged to beforced simultaneously against the sides of the punch, each at an acuteangle to the punch, for cutting the ends of the staple at such angles toproduce smooth, sharp, points on the ends. Driving mechanism drives boththe punch and the cutting members in such -a manner that the cuttingmembers operate after the staple has been formed in the die.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the machine, showing the parts after thestaple has been formed and in the cutting position;

FIGURE 2 is a part sectional view of the die and punch in the sameposition as in FIGURE 1 and taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional plan view of the die and punch assembly, showingthe parts in the other extreme position preparatory to thestaple-forming operation;

FIGURE 4 is a similar sectional plan view of the die and punch, showingthe punch partly inserted in the cavity of the die and the staple partlyformed;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional side view of the feeding mechanism for thestaple material, taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the end of one of the cutting members;and

FIGURE 7 is a side view, greatly enlarged, of one of the staplesproduced by the machine.

Referring noW more specifically to the drawings, the machine of theinvention comprises a base plate 1 of cold Patented Oct. 31, 1967 rolledsteel or other suitable material upon which are mounted all the movingparts. The die 2 comprises a block of steel, preferably tempered toolsteel, having a slot 3 of rectangular cross section, the width of theslot defining the overall width of the finished staple. The die blockmay be fastened to the plate 1 by means of screws 4, thus closing theopen side of the slot, so that the die cavity extends completely throughthe block from front to back.

A punch 5 is arranged to have reciprocal motion into and out of the diecavity. To this end, a block 6 provides guiding means for the punch andis provided with a slot 7 on its under side. The block 6 may be fastenedto the plate 1 by means of suitable screws 8 (shown as hollowheadedscrews), with the slot 7 aligned with the axis of the die 2.

The punch 5 is rectangular in cross section and has a width which isless than that of the die cavity by a little more than twice thethickness of the staple material, and its other dimension is such thatthe punch will have a sliding fit within the die cavity. The punchpreferably has an enlarged portion 9 which is dimensioned so that itwill have a sliding fit in the slot 7 of the guide block 6. The punch ispreferably made of tool steel which has been suitably hardened.

Driving means for the punch 5 includes a block 10 of steel which has thesame cross sectional dimensions as the portion 9 of the punch 5, so thatit also has a sliding fit in the guide block 6 where it is positioned. Ahole 11 is provided in the end of the block 10 nearest the punch 5,which is adapted to receive a pin 12 extending out of the portion 9 ofthe punch with which it may be integral. The hole 11 has an enlargement13 near the open end thereof to receive the end of a coil spring 14which is positioned around the pin 12 and bears at one end against theshoulder formed between the hole 11 and the enlargement 13 in the block10 and at the other end against the portion 9 of the punch 5.

When the block 10 is pushed forwardly within the guide block 6, thespring 14 will push the punch towards and into the die cavity 3, and thespring has enough tension to cause the punch to carry a portion of thestaple material 15 into the die to form the staple. However, when theend of the punch pushes the staple material against a stop, which willbe described later, the block 10 can continue moving against the tensionof the spring, while the punch remains stationary. This provides anovermovement or lost motion arrangement between the punch and thedriving mechanism which will permit the cutters to continue theirmovement and sever the staple material although the punch has completedits movement, as will be explained later.

Any suitable staple material may be used with the machine. Surgicalstaples are usually made of stainless steel, and the machine is designedto handle round, stainless steel wire, as shown at 15, although materialof other cross sections might be used.

The driving mechanism for moving the block 10 may comprise a lever 16which is pivotally mounted at one end on a suitable boss on the plate 1,indicated at 17, to raise it above the plate and above the end of theblock 10. The lever 16 may be moved manually or may be attached to anysuitable intermittent power drive. A cylindrical post 18 extendingupwardly from the block 19 passes through a slot 19 in the lever 16 topermit the lever to be oscillated for moving the block 10 back and forthin its guide block 6.

In order to insure the removal of the punch from the die cavity 3 aftera staple has been made, I provide a link member 20 which is pivotallymounted at one end on the cylindrical post 18 on top of the lever 16where it is secured by a nut 21. The other end of the link member 20terminates near the end of the junction of the punch per se and thepunch portion 9. A slot 22 extends rearwardly from a point near theforward end of the link member and is adapted to receive a pin 23extending upwardly from the portion 9 of the punch, this pin alsopassing through a suitable slot 24 provided in the guide block 6. Thelink member 20 may be bent so that its forward end rests against theguide block 6 while its rear end rests upon the lever 16. The pin 23 isshown having a threaded end which is screwed into a tapped hole in thepunch portion 9 and a head 25 which will overlie the link member 20.With this arrangement, when the lever 16 is moved counterclockwise, soas to move the block away from the die, the forward end of the slot 22in the link member will engage the pin 23 to pull the punch 5 out of thedie cavity 3.

After the punch has carried a portion of the staple material 15 into thedie a sufficient distance for the length of the desired staple, it isnecessary to cut off the staple material, so that both legs thereof arethe same length and the ends of both legs are pointed with a smooth,clean, sharp point, as indicated at 26 in FIGURE 7. The manner ofaccomplishing this is an important feature of the invention. I havefound that smooth, clean cuts may be made by cutting the staple materialagainst the sides of the punch 5, and the mechanism for accomplishingthis will now be described.

I provide a pair of cutting members 30 and 31 of hardened tool steel.The end of the member 31 is shown enlarged in FIGURE 6. These cuttingmembers are rectangular in cross section, as shown in FIGURE 6, having athickness to provide suitable strength and a width the same as that ofthe surface of the punch with which it cooperates. The cutting membershave two parallel surfaces 32 and 33 with the surface 33 tapered towardsthe surface 32 at the cutting end, forming a surface 34. Instead of thesurface 34, however, making a knife edge with the surface 32, Iterminate the surface 34 a short distance from the end by a small flatsurface 35, so that actually the cutting edge 36 is the junction betweentwo surfaces 35 and 32 at right angles to each other. I have found byexperiment that this cutting edge 36 formed between two surfaces atright angles to each other produces a clean, smooth cut, so as to givethe staple very sharp pointed ends.

The cutting members are arranged to be moved against sides of the punchat an acute angle, as viewed from the front of the machine with thecutting edges parallel to the sides of the punch. To this end, thecutting members 30 and 31 are removably attached, respectively, to theends of two racks 37 and 38, the ends of the racks being cut away toreceive the cutting members so that the surfaces 33 of the latter areflush with the surfaces of the racks opposite the teeth. The racks restupon the plate 1 and are guided for longitudinal movement to move thecutting members in the proper direction which, in the present example,is shown to be 45 degrees with the sides of the punch. The teeth of theracks point forwardly.

Guide members 39 and 40 are provided for the rear or outer surfaces ofthe racks. These have a rectangular cross section and may be formedintegral with the plate 1 or may be attached to it in any desiredmanner. The teeth of the racks slide along surfaces 41 and 42 which areformed by a thickened forward portion of the plate 1. This thickenedportion has a U-shaped cut-out 44 within which are positioned two gears45 and 46 which mesh with each other and respectively with the racks 37and 38. The gears 45 and 46, the racks 37 and 38, the guide members 39and 40, and the thickened portion 43 are preferably of the samethickness, so that the upper surfaces of all are flush.

Between the guide member 39 and the rack 37, I preferably provide a gib47 which is the same height as the rack and guide member and may beurged against the rack by means of two screws 48 and 49. A similar gib50, positioned between the guide member and the rack 38 may be urgedagainst the rack by means of two screws 51 and 52. These gibs may bemade of any suitable material to provide a good bearing surface for theracks, and the screws may be adjusted to take up any wear.

The gear 46 may be mounted for free rotation on a stub shaft 53 whichmay be mounted in the plate 1 in any desired manner. The gear 45, on theother hand, is fixed to a stub shaft 54 which is rotatably mounted onthe plate 1. The gear is driven in a manner to be explained and, inturn, drives the rack 37 and the gear 46 which, in turn, drives the rack38. It will be seen from FIGURE 1 that when the gear 45 is rotated in acounter-clockwise direction, the rack 37 carrying the cutting member 30will be moved towards the left away from the punch 5. At the same timethe gear 46 will be rotated clockwise which will move the rack 38carrying the cutting member 31 away from the punch. The racks slidebetween the guiding members 39 and 40 and the surfaces 41 and 42, andthrough this gear arrangement, sufficient pressure can be brought by thecutting members against the punch to make the desired smooth cut at thestaple ends.

The gear 45 is driven in the following manner: The stub shaft 54 extendsabove the gear 45, and a lever 55 is fixed to the shaft. The portion ofthe lever surrounding the shaft is bifurcated by means of a slot 56, anda screw 57 passes through a countersunk hole in the forward portion ofthe end of the lever and threads into a tapped hole in the otherportion, so that the two portions may be drawn together to grip theshaft. In addition, both the gear and the lever may be keyed to theshaft by means of a tapered pin 58, after all adjustments have beenmade.

The lever extends to the right, as shown in the figure, and its end ismechanically connected to the lever 16 by means of a link 59. This linkis rotatably connected to a pin 60 mounted on the lever 16, the linkbeing secured on the pin by a nut 61. The other end of the link is'rotatably connected to a pin 62 fixed to the end of the lever 55 whereit is held in position by means of a nut 63.

An adjustable stop member 64 (shown better in FIG- URES 2, 3, and 4), isarranged to stop the staple material and punch for a selected length ofstaple. To this end a threaded rod 65 passes through a hole 66 in thethickened portion 43 of the plate 1 and through suitable slots,indicated at 67 in FIGURE 2, in the gear teeth of gears 45 and 46 and isrigidly connected to the stop member 64. This stop member 64 has arectangular cross section dimensioned so as to have a sliding fit withinthe die cavity 3. A disk 68 is threaded on the rod 65 and is positionedwithin the U-shaped cut-out 44 in the portion 43 of the plate 1, anopening 69 being provided completely through the plate to accommodatethe disk and permit the rod 65 with the disk on it to be shiftedlongitudinally.

The disk 68 will bear against the rear surface of the cut-out 44 whenthe punch forces the portion of staple material 15 against the stopmember 64 and will prevent further movement of the punch. If it isdesired to make a longer staple, the disk is rotated on the rod so thatthe stop member is farther forward when the staple material reaches it.The disk is rotated in the opposite direction when a shorter staple isdesired. The outer surface 70 of the disk is preferably knurled for easein manipulation.

After the punch has been forced into the die cavity to form the stapleand has been removed therefrom, the finished staple will remain in thedie until forced out. This may be accomplished by pushing in the rod 65carrying the stop member 64. To facilitate this operation, a

. knob 71 may be attached to the end of the rod 65. It is only necessaryto push on the knob 71 to force the stop member 64 farther into the dieso as to push the finished staple out the rear end of the die.

After each staple has been made, it is necessary to feed a length ofstaple making material into position in front of the die. Thestaple-making material 15, which may be in the form of a stainless steelwire, will normally be supplied from a spool, not shown, and in order todraw the desired amount into the machine, I provide two cooperatingrollers 72 and 73 with finely serrated rims which engage the sides ofthe wire. The roller 72 is rotatably mounted on a stub shaft 74extending upwardly from a plate 75 attached to the plate 1 in anydesired manner, as by the screws 76. The roller is free to rotate on theshaft and may be held in place by means of a nut 77. The plate 75extends outwardly a short distance from the side of the plate 1, and theshaft 74 is positioned so that the rim of the roller 72 is tangential tothe wire as it moves into the machine. The roller 73 is movable withrespect to the roller 72. To this end a lever 78 is pivotally mounted ona suitable boss 79 which raises it sulficiently above the plate 75 toaccommodate the roller 73 beneath it and permit the roller 73 to bealigned with the roller 72. A bearing member 80 provided with a head 81may be screwed into the boss 79 to provide the pivot for the lever. Theroller 73 is fixed in any desired manner to a short shaft 82 whichpasses through a suitable hole in the lever 78. Also fixed to the shaft82 on the upper side of the lever 78 is a ratchet wheel 83 which isengaged by a pawl 84 which is also pivoted on the bearing member 80 andurged against the teeth of the ratchet wheel by means of a spring 85.The ratchet wheel and pawl are arranged so that the roller 73 can turnonly in a clockwise direction. Above the ratchet wheel 83 I provide aknob 86 which is also attached to the shaft and may have a knurled rimto facilitate rotating it by hand.

The lever 78 is urged in a clockwise direction about its pivot 80 bymeans of a spring 87 which has one end connected in a suitable manner tothe lever and the other end connected to a pin 88 attached to anupturned flange 89 on the end of the plate 75, this flange beingextended rearwardly of the plate. The spring thus acts to urge theroller 73 towards the roller 72.

In order to receive the staple wire 15, the flange 89 is provided with asuitable hole which is fitted with a guiding bushing 90 which guides theincoming wire between the rollers 72 and 73. A guide tube 91 is alsopreferably provided attached to the forward edge of the plate 75 toguide the wire to a position in front of the die member 2.

In order not to waste the staple material, I provide a stop 92 to limitthe amount of wire fed in for each staple. This stop comprises a blockof metal which may be adjustably positioned at the right side of the dieand punch. For the purpose of adjusting the position of this stop, Iprovide an upstanding lug 93 through which is threaded a screw 94provided with a knurled head 95. The end of the screw fits into a holein the block 92 which is not threaded, and the screw is prevented fromlongitudinal movement therein by a pin 96 which engages a groove in theend of the screw. Rotation of the screw 94 will cause the screw to movelongitudinally through the lug 93 to cause the block 92 to movecorrespondingly. The block rests upon the plate 1 and against thebevelled end of the guide member 40 and can only move longitudinally asthe screw 94 is adjusted.

The entire plate 1 may be mounted above a table upon posts, indicated bythe screws 97, so that there is a space under the plate 1. In this spacea suitable receptacle to receive the finished staples may be placed. Ipreferably provide a drawer 98 which has flanges on its sides arrangedto slide on supports 99 attached to the underside of the plate 1. Thedrawer may have a post 100 extending from one end terminating in a knob101 to facilitate removing and replacing the drawer. A hole 102 with atapered upper edge is provided in the plate 1 between the die member 2and the punch guide 6 in order to receive the finished staple when it isforced out of the die cavity and let it fall into the drawer immediatelyunderneath.

In operating the machine, the lever 16 is first moved to its maximumcounterclockwise position, which by means of the link 20 and pin 23,will move the punch rearwardly to its farthest rearward position. At thesame time the link 59 will rotate the lever 55 in a counterclockwisedirection, thus rotating the gears and 46 in a counterclockwise andclockwise direction, respectively, and withdrawing the racks 37 and 38and the cutting members 30 and 31 away from in front of the die.

The feed knob 86 is now turned manually in a clockwise direction whichwill advance the staple wire gripped between the rollers 72 and 73 intothe machine. The wire will advance until the end of it engages the stop92, as shown in FIGURE 3, which can be easily felt when rotating theknob by hand. Thereupon the rotation of the knob is stopped.

Now the lever 16 is moved in a clockwise direction about its pivot 17.This does two things: it starts the member 10 in a forward direction,pushing the spring 14 and the punch before it, and it moves the lever ina clockwise direction, thus rotating the gears and moving the racks andcutting members 30 and 31 towards the punch.

The punch 5 will push the wire 15 into the die cavity 3, as shown inFIGURE 4, and will continue to do so until the forward loop of the wirereaches the stop member 64. At this time the cutting members have notyet reachedthe punch. The punch will then stop but the member 10 willcontinue, since the cutting members have not reached the punch, and thespring 14 will be comlpressed, permitting this further movement of themem- The cutting members 30 and 31 will continue to move towards thepunch until they have severed the wire with the smooth cuts indicated inFIGURE 7. The lever 16 is now prevented from moving any farther and isthen moved in a counterclockwise direction.

The reversal of movement of the lever 16 will move the member 10rearwardly with respect to the portion 9 of the punch until the forwardend of the slot 22 in the link 20 engages the pin 23, whereupon thepunch will be drawn out of the cavity.

At the same time the lever 55 will be rotated in a counterclockwisedirection to rotate the gears so as to move the racks and the cuttingmembers 30 and 31 away from the punch and forward of the line of feed ofthe staple wire.

The finished staple, however, remains in the die cavity because of thefriction with the sides of the die. When the lever 16 has reached itsfarthest rearward position, the knob 71 attached to the rod may bepushed rearwardly which forces the stop member 64 rearwardly of the dieand pushes the finished staple out of the die to permit it to fallthrough the hole 102 into the drawer 98 provided to receive it.

The operation of the various parts is then repeated for the productionof the next staple.

If it is desired to change the length of the staple, the disk is rotatedto effect the desired change. Rotating the disk to move it towards therear will lengthen the staple, while rotating it to move it towards thefront will shorten the staple.

A machine constructed as shown and described has been used successfullyin manufacturing surgical staples from stainless steel wire .012 of aninch in diameter, of an inch wide, and between K and of an inch long.

The machine shown in the drawing is intended to be operated manually.The wire is fed in by rotating the knob 86 with the left hand, thestaple is formed and cut off and the punch withdrawn by moving the lever16 towards and away from the operator with the right hand, and thestaple is ejected from the die by pressing the knob 71. However, it willbe understood that the machine may be made entirely automatic bymechanically coupling the knob 86 to the driving means for intermittentrotation when the lever 16 is at its rearward rest position, andlikewise coupling the rod 65 for rearward motion after the lever 16 hasreturned to its rearward rest position.

Other modifications may be made in the structure of the machine withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. I do not therefore wish tolimit myself to the specific arrangement as shown and described exceptby limitations contained in the appended claims.

What I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for making staples comprising:

(a) a die having a cavity therein to define the overall width of thefinished staple;

(b) a punch mounted for reciprocating motion into and out of the cavityin said die, said punch having a width which is less than that of thecavity in said die by slightly more than twice the thickness of thematerial of said staples;

() means for feeding a length of staple material in front of the cavityin said die;

(d) means for moving said punch into said die cavity, thereby forcingsaid staple material into said cavity to shape it;

(e) a pair of cutting members mounted for longitudinal reciprocatingmotion on opposite sides of said punch so as to make an acute angle withthe side of the punch, as viewed from said die, and arranged so thattheir cutting edges may be simultaneously pressed against said punch infront of the cavity in said die; and

(f) means for simultaneously moving said cutting members towards saidpunch so as simultaneously to cut the staple material against said punchon both sides thereof and point the ends of the staple after thematerial has assumed the desired shape and size in said die.

2. A machine for making staples, as defined in claim 1, in which eachcutting member has a rectangular cross section and the cutting edge isthe intersection of two surfaces substantially at right angles to eachother, one of which surfaces is the side of said member towards saidpunch.

13. A machine for making staples, as defined in claim 1, furthercomprising:

(a) lever means mechanically connecting the punchmoving means and thecutting-members-moving means, so that the rate of movement of saidcutting members is such as to permit the punch to form the staplematerial into the proper shape and length before said cutting membersreach said punch in the cutting operation.

4. A machine for making staples, as defined in claim 3, furthercomprising:

(a) spring means included in the means for moving the punch, arranged sothat said punch can be stopped in its travel into the die and saidpunch-moving means can continue moving against the tension of saidspring means;

(b) stop means for stopping the punch in its movement into the die whena staple of the desired length has been formed; and

(c) means for adjusting the position of said stop means so as to adjustthe length of the staple produced.

5. A machine for making staples, as defined in claim 4, furthercomprising means for moving the stop means towards the punch after thepunch has been withdrawn from the die for ejecting a completed staplefrom said die.

6. A machine for making staples, as defined in claim 1, furthercomprising:

(a) spring means included in the means for moving the punch arranged sothat said punch can be stopped in its travel into the die and saidpunchmoving means can continue moving against the tension of said springmeans;

(b) stop means for stopping the punch in its movement into the die whena staple of the desired length has been formed; and

(c) means for adjusting the position of said stop means so as to adjustthe length of the staple produced.

7. A machine for making staples, as defined in claim 6, furthercomprising means for moving the stop means towards the punch after saidpunch has been withdrawn from the die for ejecting a completed staplefrom said die.

8. A machine for making staples comprising:

(a) a base plate;

(b) a die mounted on said plate and having a cavity therein with itsaxis parallel to said plate and with two parallel sides substantiallyperpendicular to said plate and spaced apart to define the overall widthof the finished staple;

(c) a punch adapted to fit into said cavity and having a width which isless than the distance between the parallel sides of said cavity byslightly more than twice the thickness of the staple material;

(d) punch guide means mounted on said plate for guiding said punch formotion into and out of said die cavity;

(e) means for feeding a portion of staple material in front of said diecavity;

(f) driving means including spring means for forcing said punch and saidportion of staple material into said die cavity a predetermined distanceto form the staple material into the desired shape;

(g) a pair of cutting members mounted at opposite sides of said punch;

(h) cutting-member-guide means mounted on said plate for guiding saidcutting members in longitudinal movement parallel to said plate towardsand away from said punch and at an acute angle to the sides of saidpunch as viewed from said die;

(i) stop means in said die cavity for stopping said punch after it hasmoved a predetermined distance into said die cavity while permittingsaid driving means to continue moving against the tension of said springmeans;

(j) means for adjusting the position of said stop means so as topredetermine the length of the staple produced; and

(k) means coupled to said driving means for moving said cutting memberstowards said punch at such a rate that they will simultaneously cutthrough the staple material at each side of the punch after the punchhas stopped its movement into the die cavity to provide pointed ends forthe staple.

9. A machine for making staples, as defined in claim 8, in which eachcutting member has a rectangular cross section and the cutting edge isthe intersection of two surfaces substantially at right angles to eachother, one of which surfaces is the side of the cutting member towardsthe punch.

10. A machine for making staples, as defined in claim 9, in which themeans for moving the cutting members comprises:

(a) a pair of racks, one attached to each cutting member;

(b) a pair of gears mounted on said plate in such a manner as to meshwith each other and each with one of said racks;

(c) a lever fixed to one of said gears; and

(d) coupling means between said lever and the driving means, wherebysaid driving means will rotate said gears so as to move said cuttingmembers towards said punch.

9 10 11. A machine for making staples, as defined in claim "gears so asto move said cutting members towards 8, in which the means for movingthe cutting members said punch. comprises! h References Cited (alleipairof racks, one attac ed to each cutting mem- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS (b)a pair of gears mounted on said plate in such a 394,217 12/1833 Slater5'9-74 manner as to mesh with each other and each with 1,342,712 6/ 0Garllus 59-71 one of said racks; ,5 ,362 -3/ 1925 Harmon 59-74 (c) alever fixed to one of said gears; and

(d) coupling means between said lever and the driving 10 CHARLES W.LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

means, whereby said driving means will rotate said

1. A MACHINE FOR MARKING STAPLES COMPRISING: (A) A DIE HAVING A CAVITYTHEREIN TO DEFINE THE OVERALL WIDTH OF THE FINISHED STAPLE; (B) A PUNCHMOUNTED FOR RECIPROCATING MOTION INTO AND OUT OF THE CAVITY IN SAID DIE,SAID PUNCH HAVING A WIDING WHICH IS LESS THAN THAT OF THE CAVITY IN SAIDDIE BY SLIGHTLY MORE THAN TWICE THE THICKNESS OF THE MATERIAL OF SAIDSTAPLES; (C) MEANS FOR FEEDING A LENGTH OF STAPLE MATERIAL IN FRONT OFTHE CAVITY IN SAID DIE; (D) MEANS FOR MOVING SAID PUNCH INTO SAID DIECAVITY, THEREBY FORCING SAID STAPLE MATERIAL INTO SAID CAVITY TO SHAPEIT; (E) A PAIR OF CUTTING MEMBERS MOUNTED FOR LONGITUDINAL RECIPROCATINGMOTION ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID PUNCH SO AS TO MAKE AN ACUTE ANGLE WITHTHE SIDE OF THE PUNCH, AS VIEWED FROM SAID DIE, AND ARRANGED SO THATTHEIR CUTTING EDGES MAY BE SIMULTANEOUSLY PRESSED AGAINST SAID PUNCH INFRONT OF THE CAVITY IN SAID DIE; AND (F) MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY MOVINGSAID CUTTING MEMBERS TOWARDS SAID PUNCH SO AS SIMULTANEOUSLY TO CUT THESTAPLE MATERIAL AGAINST SAID PUNCH ON BOTH SIDES THEREOF AND POINT THEENDS OF THE STAPLE AFTER THE MATERIAL HAS ASSUMED THE DESIRED SHAPE ANDSIZE IN SAID DIE.